


In Xanadu

by MrProphet



Category: Indiana Jones Series, Kubla Khan; or A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment - Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-22
Updated: 2017-04-22
Packaged: 2018-10-22 16:04:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10700388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrProphet/pseuds/MrProphet





	In Xanadu

There were nine who came to the chasm in the ruins; eight men and a boy. Five of the men were hired bearers from Dolon Nor; tough, uncomplicated, laconic men whose kind could be found in any part of the world. They were just five out of the hundreds the leaders of the expedition could have hired, and no better or worse than any of the others.

The other three were rarer types, but no more defined by nationality than the bearers. The tall, lean, tweed-clad man who led the way possessed an aristocratic air that could have belonged to a Mandarin, a German baron or a Southern planter as easily as it did this English scholar. The next bore the unmistakable air of a chancer, from his unsuitable white suit to his pencil moustache. The last fit this place best of all, although he was no more a Mongol than the other two. His hard-wearing clothes, sturdy boots, leather jacket and battered felt hat marked him as a man of the world, at home in any country; so long as he steered clear of anywhere too respectable.

And then there was the boy; a country peasant by his garb and well-acquainted with the area. Unlike the bearers, he had not been paid to come, but had volunteered his services as guide, leading the white men to the ruins of Shangdu. That kind of offer was usually only made by people who were in trouble and there was certainly a hunted air about the boy.

The boy led the way to the chasm, where seven of the men paused, while the adventurer moved forward to gaze down.

“Be careful, Indy!” the Englishman warned.

The adventurer looked up at him. “Are you kidding, Ox?” he asked. “You know what a cautious fellow I am.”

_Inner Mongolia  
_

_1924_

Indiana Jones led the descent into the chasm, with Harold Oxley following. René Belaque made some protest about his suit, but quickly came after them, either greed or curiosity overcoming his vanity. 

The bearers stayed at the top of the chasm, and not for all of Belloq's money would they go any further. The guide, Tuluy, could not grab the rope fast enough and swung down with the agility of an ape, leaping the last ten feet to land in a smooth roll.

“Easy, kid,” Indy cautioned. “You'll hurt yourself.”

“I hope you don't think you're getting any more money,” Belloq muttered.

"I don't recall the lad asking for so much as a penny,” Ox noted.

Tuluy shook his head. “No money,” he agreed. “I am guide. I know the way.”

Indy chuckled. “What do you suppose he did? He seems a little young to have seduced the chief's daughter.”

Belloq's expression was almost despairing. “It seems unlikely – if not impossible. If you ever paid attention to local cultures and languages, Jones, you would know that Tuluy was a girl's name.”

Jones looked at the guide. He looked at him again. He looked at her a third time. She looked back, blinking innocently.

"Everyone looks the same in cold weather gear,” Indy groused. “Well then, guide. Lead the way.”

Tuluy grinned and set off along a narrow passageway. The three men followed, their feet sliding on the smooth floor. Although above the air was merely cool and the sun warm, here, mere yards below, their breath fogged in the air and ice slicked the stone.

The catacombs of Shangdu were a veritable labyrinth. They were supposed to have lain undisturbed for generations, but Tuluy clearly knew her way too well for this to be her first visit. She took each corner with confidence, with certainty even, leaving the chasm behind as she led them deep into the maze.

Perhaps three miles they travelled through the cold and dark of the measureless caverns, the girl guiding them unerringly and unfaltering, hour after hour. They bypassed deadfalls and trapdoors, slipped through hidden entrances and along passages almost too narrow to admit them.

“Fire trap,” Tuluy said once. “Very dangerous. Don't step on these stones.”

At last, the darkness began to thin, banished by a bright, golden glow. The passage widened and they emerged onto a narrow ledge, overlooking a vast cavern. All around them, the icy walls shimmered in the light from the vast, shining dome which stood at the centre of the chamber, supported on stone pillars so artfully crafted that it seemed almost to float above the stone floor.

“I would build that dome in air!” Oxley breathed. “That sunny dome, those caves of ice.”

“It's real,” Belloq breathed. “And in that dome... The milk of Paradise.”

“It is not a good place,” Tuluy warned.

Indy nodded. “And all who heard should see them there, And all should cry, Beware! Beware!” he quoted.

Belloq loosened his pistol in its holster. “It's a good thing we have such a cautious fellow along then, isn't it,” he chuckled.

Indy and Oxley shared a wry grin and the party set off down a narrow, treacherous stair to the stately pleasure dome of Xanadu.


End file.
